Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green scores in the second half ofGame 3 of the Western Conference semifinal NBA basketball playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs, Friday, May 10, 2013 in Oakland, Calif.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green scores in the second half...

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Draymond Green plays for the Golden State Warriors versus the Washington Wizards during NBA Summer League on July 13, 2013 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Draymond Green was supposed to gab with a gaggle of reporters at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, so the Warriors' media relations team started looking for him in all of the predictable places at about 12:30 p.m.

They looked on the court and in the weight room. Green was in neither place.

They peeked in the locker room and in the players' lounge, but they couldn't find the soon-to-be second-year forward in either spot.

A member of the team's media relations staff was about to tell reporters that the interview wasn't going to happen when Green emerged from the team's sauna at 12:44 p.m. He was dripping with sweat and wheeling out a stationary bike - the aftermath of a 20-minute regimen he's covertly completed twice a week since returning to the Bay Area after Labor Day.

Green was by many accounts the steal of the 2012 draft - a guy who grew into an important role while playing in 79 regular-season games and improved his play in the postseason, when most rookies were watching on TV. But he wants more out of the playoffs for himself (5.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per postseason game) and the team (a second-round exit), so he dropped almost 20 pounds this offseason.

"What success?" Green asked. "We've got bigger dreams and goals than just getting to the second round of the playoffs."

The 35th pick last season, Green bulked up to about 245 pounds in preparation for his first pro season. But he developed knee tendinitis, which curtailed his workouts and allowed his weight to increase. In May, he hit 250.

By the time Green arrived for the Warriors' Las Vegas Summer League in July, however, he had made a major body transition. He didn't crash diet, opting instead to eat right and go to the gym. He has toned, not lost, his muscle and has kept the weight off.

"Nobody is just going to bully me," he said.

Green said his conditioning is better, he's moving quicker, is getting off the floor better and his knees are fine. All of that should add to the Warriors' versatility and depth.

"If you want to go with an all-defensive, shutdown team, you can do that," Green recalled telling owner Joe Lacob recently. "If you want to go with a super athletic team, you can do that. If you want to go with a big team, you can do that. If you want to go with a crazy-shooting team, you can do that.

"We have so much firepower that we have so many things that can be done. Against certain teams, we have certain lineups we can put in and just annihilate teams."